The xe2x80x98Banjoxe2x80x99 pear (Pyrus communis L.) is a new, smooth skinned, very attractive cultivar with very little or no russet. This pear, unlike most pears, ripens on the tree, stores into late December and early January and has a unique shape. This new invention, which is a whole tree mutation, also has different leaf characteristics, time of bloom, time of leaf emergence and color of the one year old wood.
The xe2x80x98Banjoxe2x80x99 pear was discovered in 1987 as a whole tree mutation in a mixed orchard of xe2x80x98Beurre d""Anjouxe2x80x99 (Pyrus communis L.), not patented, xe2x80x98Bartlettxe2x80x99 (Pyrus communis L.), not patented, and xe2x80x98Buerre Boscxe2x80x99 (Pyrus communis L.) not patented. The original tree, located on the Eastside Road near Hood River, Oreg., was found in between old trees that had been inter-planted in 1975 and 1976 with some of the above mentioned cultivars.
Wood from the original tree was top worked (grafted) into a young xe2x80x98Columbia Red d""Anjouxe2x80x99 (Pyrus communis L.) (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 6,194) tree in 1994 and is now bearing fruit. Trees propagated at the direction of the inventors are now bearing some fruit.
The new cultivar grows and looks much like a xe2x80x98d""Anjouxe2x80x99 tree with an upright, spreading growth habit. The original tree lacked typical vigor for some reason but the young trees are growing well with excellent new growth and a healthy appearance. As mentioned above there are three distinguishing characteristics in the appearance of the plant.
1. The leaf size is larger on the xe2x80x98Banjoxe2x80x99 tree than on a xe2x80x98d""Anjouxe2x80x99 tree and the leaf stem is shorter when 100 leaves were measured. Measurements of the leaf are shown in the detailed description.
2. The color of the one year old wood is olive brown (4E5) on the xe2x80x98Banjoxe2x80x99 tree, olive green (2F6) on the xe2x80x98d""Anjouxe2x80x99 tree and hazel (6E8) on the xe2x80x98Bartlettxe2x80x99 tree. (See detailed description for color references).
3. Bloom data indicates that the date of bloom of the xe2x80x98Banjoxe2x80x99 tree is one to two days later than the xe2x80x98Bartlettxe2x80x99 tree and 5 to 6 days later than that of the xe2x80x98d""Anjouxe2x80x99 tree. Full bloom date for 2001 for the xe2x80x98d""Anjouxe2x80x99 tree was April 19, for the xe2x80x98Bartlettxe2x80x99 tree it was April 23 and for xe2x80x98Banjoxe2x80x99 and xe2x80x98Boscxe2x80x99 was April 25. Temperatures in the Hood RIver Valley were cool until Apr. 23, 2001, when the weather turned quite warm.
The xe2x80x98Banjoxe2x80x99 fruit is more similar to the xe2x80x98d""Anjouxe2x80x99 fruit than it is to a xe2x80x98Bartlettxe2x80x99 or xe2x80x98Boscxe2x80x99 fruit. The ripening characteristics and color change, however, are more similar to the xe2x80x98Bartlettxe2x80x99. The differences in the appearance of the two fruits, xe2x80x98Banjoxe2x80x99 and xe2x80x98d""Anjou,xe2x80x99 include the following six points.
1. The xe2x80x98Banjoxe2x80x99 fruit ripens ten to fifteen days before xe2x80x98d""Anjou.xe2x80x99 From the chart below and from our experience in 1999 to 2000, it appears that the fruit could have been picked earlier than was done in 1997. From the 1997 data, the pressures were consistently higher on the xe2x80x98d""Anjouxe2x80x99 fruit than on the xe2x80x98Banjoxe2x80x99 fruit. Sugars were similar but starches were higher on the xe2x80x98Banjoxe2x80x99 fruit than on the xe2x80x98D""Anjou,xe2x80x99 as it should be on riper fruit.
Picking dates and pressures for xe2x80x98Banjoxe2x80x99 in 2000 were 1st picked fruit, Aug. 21, 2000 and 12.1 pounds, 2nd picked, Aug. 30, 2000 and 10.77 pounds, 3rd picked fruit, Sep. 5, 2000 and 9.26 pounds.
3. The xe2x80x98Banjoxe2x80x99 fruit is cleaner, smoother and free of russet when compared with the finish of the xe2x80x98d""Anjouxe2x80x99 pear. The skin has a waxy finish that, unlike the xe2x80x98d""Anjou,xe2x80x99 turns yellow (2A6) as the fruit ripens.
4. It appears that the xe2x80x98Banjoxe2x80x99 fruit is quite edible off the tree. This is not true with the xe2x80x98d""Anjouxe2x80x99 fruit which requires preripening in order to have acceptable eating quality.
5. While the interior quality of the xe2x80x98Banjoxe2x80x99 fruit is good after ripening, the smooth buttery texture of the xe2x80x98d""Anjouxe2x80x99 fruit is superior.
6. The shape of the two fruits appears to be different. The xe2x80x98Banjoxe2x80x99 fruit is longer, the width is narrower, and the stem length is longer than the xe2x80x98d""Anjouxe2x80x99 fruit. See detailed description.
7. The old xe2x80x98Banjoxe2x80x99 tree, because of its lack of vigor, has smaller fruit size than the xe2x80x98d""Anjouxe2x80x99 but the younger xe2x80x98Banjoxe2x80x99 trees have larger fruit more similar in size to the fruit of the xe2x80x98d""Anjou.xe2x80x99 For more information on fruit size see detailed description.
8. The fruit storage life has not been fully determined, but it appears that the fruit can be stored until January, while the xe2x80x98d""Anjouxe2x80x99 fruit can be stored well into June, in controlled atmosphere (CA) storage. Data collected by technicians at the Oregon State University Mid-Columbia Agriculture Research and Extension Center (MCAREC) in Hood River, from first year of storage showed the following information.
Sampled on Nov. 12, 1997, and evaluated according to maturity chart used at MCAREC.
The overall appearance of the fruit observed at the November 12 and January 12 evaluations was very good. From this data it appears that xe2x80x98Banjoxe2x80x99 fruit, under regular of common storage, keeps well into January. None of the fruit was treated with Ethoxyquin for scald control or a fungicide for rot control.
9. The 2000 evaluation showed that fruit picket on 8/3/00 (2nd pick) and evaluated on 11/4/00 were of excellent quality. Pressures averaged 2.46 pounds, extractable juices averaged 56.33 (100 g/FW), soluble solids averaged 13.5% and titratable acids averaged 2.82 meq/100 ml juice. No fruit exhibited scald, russet or internal browning. The fruit was juicy, smooth, had good flavor and the overall evaluation was very good.